


City of Dogs

by kinpika



Category: Mass Effect - All Media Types, Mass Effect: Andromeda
Genre: Backstory, Exploring Character, Extensive use of headcanons and codex entries, Past Relationship(s), Pre-Canon, Rating May Change
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-05-15
Updated: 2017-05-20
Packaged: 2018-11-01 03:54:19
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,381
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10913802
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kinpika/pseuds/kinpika
Summary: Death doesn't discriminateBetween the saints and the sinnersIt takes and it takes and it takesAnd we keep living anywayThe life and lies of Reyes Vidal.





	1. Lord of the Sacred Land

**Author's Note:**

> Playing around with how Reyes was given a very specific call sign, and how one particular nebula handled Egyptian mythology. Trailing through the Anhur Rebellions to Kadara. Each chapter is a reference to a name that was assigned to Anubis, too. 
> 
> Lord of the Sacred Land - reference the area of the desert where necropolis/cemetaries were located (Anhur itself is classified as a garden world _but still_ this is important later too)

_Four am, Galactic Standard Time. Early 2176._

There was no reason for him to be out so late, flying low and hot between the greater curves of Anhur’s surface. It was a risk, more in the way of the engine giving out over actually running into anything. After all, Reyes knew the lay of the land well enough to know when he was cutting it very close to the designated batarian outposts.

And yet here he was, barely skimming the line before encroaching on some law or other, simply because of the old women and their gossip. If only those rumours didn’t get into his mother’s head so much, he wouldn’t have even considered jail. Just to put her mind at ease, Reyes tells himself again, hands darting over sensors and flicking switches. Not all their fault though. Batarian raids had begun to get more frequent along the Traverse in the last few years. Everyone had seen the footage from Mindoir, after all — rebuilding didn’t mean anything when everyone was dead.

A few more metres, and Reyes would go down in a screaming pile. Tilting the vehicle right, he guides it back towards New Thebes, quite sure that there was nothing out there. No batarian slave rings, no crashed ships. Nothing those women insisted on. Definitely no humans dumb enough to step on the line, beside himself of course. All in the name of gossip. Reyes had already prepared himself for the argument that would be waiting at home — when he had taken off, he had seen the younger girl next door peering out from her window. Whilst that little girl was clever, she was also very loud. Secrets were not something children understood, not really, and Reyes had simply waved as he had taken off. 

Shifting in his seat, Reyes tilted down, towards the tops of the forest. Stay low, won’t get caught. What should have been a relatively smooth cruise back was shaken by wind, rattling the old shielding enough to have Reyes slow to a crawl. Strange for this time of year. A route back towards the outermost housing, where he and his mother lived, was fairly direct. Over the forest, past one of the lakes, eastern side of the mountain range. Living at the bottom of a basin meant the air was still for the most part. Something to even cause his old bucket to shake was _very_ odd.

As were the flashes of light, reaching up between trees. Vehicle following Reyes hands, he leans a little left, catching what he assumed to be flashlights. Too far across the water for humans, surely. Unless they were teenagers intent on reliving the most recent horror movie release. Whilst the scariest thing to run into out in the surrounding area was a few tombs, perhaps the twisted trees that resembled people, at night it was a lot worse.

Don’t worry about it, he has to repeat. “Don’t worry. Go home.” _Location marked on omni-tool map._

His mother was truly going to kill him when he got home. Eyeing the time, Reyes searches for a clearing. Despite the vehicle being lightly made, new parts attached to an old frame, it still landed with a _thunk_ that unsettled the area. Reyes himself wasn’t a particularly superstitious man but the absolute silence that pounded in his ears when he popped the shielding of the cockpit didn’t provide him with any sort of comfort.

Definitely should’ve brought something that resembled armour. Or a jacket, at the very least. Releasing a rush of air he hadn’t realised he’d been holding. Reyes reaches back into the vehicle, pulling the seat up to reveal just one of the hidden guns he’d stored on his ship. Never could be too sure. Terminus Systems do that to a person. And the colony they called home was new, a five year anniversary in only a few more hours.

Just his luck to die on the eve of the anniversary.

Reyes follows the path marked, cold, wary, regretting every footstep as the lights grew brighter. Here’s hoping they don’t find me first, he thinks grimly, keeping to the trees. Light on his omni-tool low, dropping to a crouch. _Fucking batarians._ And the aliens complained humans were crawling all over the universe. Every time he and his mother had to up and run, it was into another place with just another bunch of ugly (Reyes didn’t think about how the promises that Anhur would be the last world for a long time, as they both knew it wouldn’t be too long before they had to move again).

Well, at least he didn’t forget his translator this time, his understanding being rusty and all. The words were too hushed to make full sentences. Recorder already open and catching what it can, yet there’s nothing coherent enough to bother considering for later. Trade talks that didn’t affect New Thebes. Laws. Humans. The usual sort of batarian waffling that crowded intranet sites and midday news. With a thought to the stars, Reyes was able to back away when the conversation truly went south. Lingering any longer meant more likely to get caught, and he didn’t want to provide an excuse for them to attack. No branches crack underfoot as he turns tail and runs. Nothing to suggest he had ever been there. Ah, what a life outside movies. 

If the sound of him taking off gave him away, Reyes was too far to care by that stage, completely past the lake by the time he even realised. There was protocol, scanning him on takeoff for vehicle registry, just assuming from flight path where he was returning to. Not unusual for humans to be out and about, but at that forest? Reyes whistles and lands and has at least twelve different ways to have that particular location removed from any tracking data, when he’s barely turned the engine off and there’s a knock on his shield.

Reyes jumps, and is thankful for the two-way mirror coating that had been so expertly suggested to him by his mother, no less. And Reyes, well, Reyes _loves_ his mother, but goddamn if she didn’t nearly give him a heart attack. Raising the shielding, it takes everything to school his face into something that didn’t give away sheer panic, and he opens his mouth with a “mama!”

“Where have you been, Reyes?! I got a call saying you’d flown out _again!_ ”

Women and their goddamn gossip. As Reyes stands, hopping down from the cockpit once more, he lands with a bit more _oomph_ , and has his arms around his mother in no time. “Save the lecture, please,” he outright _begs_ , bowing his back for emphasis as he lowers his weight onto the tiny woman. “I’m so _tired_.”

“I’m not surprised considering the time!” Her voice is shrill, and yet so comforting. Reyes hadn’t realised just how hard his heart had been beating, how much adrenalin had been pumping through him. It’s like his body locks around her, while he tries to pick up just what he had seen in the short few hours that had passed. 

Slowly, her arms circle around him too, patting him gently on the back like she used to do when he was far younger. Encouraging him to sleep on ships, while they readied themselves for the next move. “There, there, you silly boy,” she sighs, “you’re fine now.” There are a few more comments, something about how he was still _just_ a boy, after all, and despite the itching argument to counter that he was far more than that now, Reyes only gives her one more squeeze.

Releasing her, Reyes takes a step back, exhaustion hitting him like a hammer to the face. Sleep. That was what he truly needed now. Maybe, just maybe, she’d feel pity on him. Hell, maybe she actually knew what he was up to, playing coastguard along their border, since no one else was game enough to. Something to maybe bring up at the next colony meeting, if Reyes remembered. Thoughts for another day, when his forehead meets his mother’s shoulder once more. “I’m tired.”

His mother simply clicks her tongue, and shoves him forward. “Get inside already.” 

Reyes has to laugh, and links their arms as they walk. If there were any questions, thankfully, his mother holds them off. For a moment of blissful silence, Reyes notes how pretty the stars are above New Thebes. 

Door sliding open before they reach it, both mother and son smile at the sight of her partner. “Tracked your path, Reyes. Cutting it close there.” No malice, a slight tease, and he holds the door open for the both of them. A passing kiss to his mother’s cheek. Nod of recognition. Reyes always liked George, simply because he was simple and honest, _nice enough_.

Whilst Reyes was quite sure that there was no way George was his father, the man had been around long enough to stand in his father’s place. Taught Reyes everything his mother couldn’t, and simply seemed utterly content to follow his mother around on her next brightest adventure. One day, when they’re both closer to one-fifty than either of them would like to admit, Reyes was sure they would consider settling down properly. But that day wasn’t coming anytime soon, and while there was still a significant portion of the universe left to trade with, his mother wasn’t quitting either.

“Silvia give you a dressing down yet?”

That was definitely a remark reminiscent of an argument, potentially. Reyes raises a brow at that, turning to his mother for a confirmation. All he receives is another series of pats against his arm, coupled with a “go to bed. Now.”

Saluting her, he kisses her cheek once more, nods to George, and walks off. There is worry settled on his mother’s face, and George does not carry himself as easily as he thought he did. Reyes stops at the bottom of the stairs, staring back as he watches them disappear into the front room. Something had happened. They didn’t want him out and about, clearly, and that was despite his mother’s gripes about his age every other week. If she wasn’t complaining he was old enough to move out, she was complaining he was too young to go flying at night. 

Fingers tap along metal all the way up. Five years on Anhur. Definitely a new record. Perhaps it was getting close to time to leave. Normally he was alerted of the move ahead of time, between the time his mother realised he stopped parroting and started listening. Time for a new set of official records too, beyond the change of address. Damn, he shouldn’t have gone for a circle around the border. Clearly there was something more going on.

When Reyes sets foot in his room, he hits the lock on the door, finally breathes. At least his mother hadn’t been through again, insistent on washing laundry that was only a day old. Whether it was to keep up appearances or just simply _her_ , Reyes couldn’t tell. But he toes his way through pants, hoping to find a pair that was particularly soft from one too many washes, and does. Changing, Reyes catches the sunrise out the window. Another day already. 

Sleep comes easy when the rush is gone. Reyes didn’t remember the last time he had passed out so quickly, but he didn’t really have much time to consider it, eyes sliding shut once his head hit the pillow. Quiet and dreamless sleep. Few hours in before an automatic alarm goes off. Not the best, but not the worst.

When Reyes wakes, he can tell by how his body feels it had only been a few hours, at most. Before the alarm, as always. A reminder on his omni-tool pings that the anniversary celebrations were in no less than three hours. Several other emails were scattered about, people, contacts, those who wanted to meet during the few hours that security would lapse. Those were forwarded to his mother’s omni-tool, a few more to George. No replies, as Reyes doesn’t trust his ability to type, let alone get out of bed. 

“Reyes, you awake?” Dang, no trying to hide for the day.

Swinging his legs over the side of the bed, Reyes makes the slow and steady walk down their makeshift apartment to the kitchen. Omni-tool alit, previous night’s recording ready to be played. No doubt the both of them had spent some time making breakfast, but perhaps he may have been able to interrupt, as they surely would’ve liked to hear this. Reyes has to stop that ridiculous thought. If there was one thing that was honoured in this house, it was breakfast, and no amount of batarian chatter was going to change that. One of these days, Reyes would be up early enough to help, to learn, but that day was not today. 

Yet the smell of food doesn’t reach him, and everything seemed to give off a low hum, save for the muffled sounds of one of the holovid sets. Strange for it to be on in the kitchen, given everything. Very strict rules about no technology at the table. Hitting the panel at the side of the door, Reyes opens his mouth to say something, anything, but he can’t get a word out when there’s chatter from the holo. Loud and clear, shouts, reports, news reporters clambering over each other to get their voice in. It’s the human, prioritised over the rest, clear distress on their face as a satellite camera zooms in on what had the whole universe go still. 

Elysium was burning.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Shoutout to Shepard too. Reyes is only a few years younger, if you assume he's like 29 in Andromeda. Anhur rebellions and Skyllian Blitz happen pretty close to each other, too (same year)
> 
> I was going to have it take place on a different world, but Anhur was the centre of the rebellion for the most part, according to wiki/codex, and it actually had a world classification beyond "hydrogen helium giant".


	2. First of the Westerners

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> First of the Westerners - 'westerners' was a name for departed souls (afterlife lays in the west, direction of sunset). Associated with eternal justice.

_Eight pm, Galactic Standard Time. Mid 2176._

It had been four months since Elysium, and the rumours hadn’t stopped. Each and every day it just got a little worse, word filtering in from other colonies in the Traverse. Every message had the same sort of undertone, a warning to ‘Get Out Now’. Batarians owned and ruled, raiding wherever they pleased along that thin line that separated them from the rest. But despite everything, Reyes was constantly reminded: we’re in the Terminus systems. They don’t care about us.

New Thebes had opened up the armoury after the first raid. It was smaller, compared to the others. One of the batarian cities only across the way deciding to enact revenge, all in the name of the Skyllian Verge. And that was what angered the most. Silvia had been saying things, how human retaliation would be just as bad, that it was only a matter of time before it all escalated.

Before they all ended up caught in the crossfire.

Crossing his arms over his chest, Reyes sat behind his mother and George, an apparent required attendant of the meeting simply because he was _old_ enough. He had missed the last few urgent ones, in favour of helping the mechanics fix old vehicles and ships. Trying to get them space-ready, just in case a mass exodus was called. As his head rolls to the left, then back to the right, cracks relieving some of the tension, he carefully studied the back of his mother’s head.

Reyes _had_ expected her to be on the first flight out. Taking them and whatever wasn’t pinned down, and heading to somewhere like Omega. At least until everything blew over. But they were still here, four months since the news broke with pirates hitting the gates of Elysium. Not that Reyes had a problem either way — he still hadn’t made up his mind whether it was time he left her, to make his own way in the universe — but it was just something he didn’t _get_. They didn’t have any attachments to New Thebes. Nothing holding them down.

 _Unless_ … Reyes couldn’t see from this angle, but it was definitely not the first time he had wondered if Silvia simply just wasn’t in a position to be capable of flying. And that was something he could think over later, when the mayor finally appears in the room, taking the stage.

“I’m sure by now, most of you have seen the reports coming in from the government. It’s not good, I won’t lie.”

Murmurs erupted in an instant. Reyes himself had only read the odd report, any sort of news he had heard filtered through an old radio in the mechanic’s shed. From the sounds of it, the situation was only going to get worse.

“Tonight, they make a decision. Abolishing the minimum wage… it means slavery. _Legal_ slavery.” More voices. Shouting. Concerns. Reyes sunk down into his chair just a little more, waiting for any sign of movement from his mother. She seemed to be taking the information oddly well, despite everything — like the looming threat of servitude.

And batarians honestly wondered why most species didn’t like them. If on instinct, he presses against his side, feeling the gun strapped to his chest. There was no reason to pull it free at that moment, of course, it was only there as a precaution. Reyes had a feeling that having it closer for the next twenty-four hours would extend his lifespan incredibly.

“We have several flight ready ships, as well as some of the larger corporations allowing us to rent theirs. People will leave before the verdict comes out. This won’t be like Elysium. We do not have the Alliance to intervene.”

At that, his mother finally shifted in her chair. Head turned, she meets Reyes’ eye. And shakes her head. We’re staying, he realises, and releases a breath he hadn’t realised he’d been holding. A part of him, controlled and awful, knew that it was not the best decision. They’re dead on their feet, and they haven’t realised it yet. Reyes would not abandon her, not after this, but as his eyes reach the ceiling, it was not the first time he wished he had, long ago.

More talk. Questions, _so many questions_. Children are the priority. Getting them off world, moving them to Sekhmet, or even Bast. Several moons were well protected, and no doubt they were not the only colony to consider this. Sobek was also an option, pending only due to the low gravity moons. No one had the capability to completely leave the system. Reyes had not realised how suffocating it suddenly was, realising they were one of the few people who owned a personal ship capable of FTL outside Anhur’s atmosphere. 

Reyes wouldn’t have considered himself to be largely fidgety, but he’s crossing his legs next, ankle resting on opposite knee. The meeting was wrapping up, and some of the other younger adults around his age had already made themselves scarce. Not that he was a stranger to most, having greeted most of them by name upon entering. Rolling his eyes behind his mother, to the amusement of some. Playing at being just as wide-eyed to the situation. Until now. Until _now_.

Not a persona he was hoping to break so soon, but there was a countdown on the main screen of the meeting hall, timing till the verdict was released to the public. More than enough time to refuel and leave. More than enough time to begin moving some of the younger families off world. More than enough time to resign themselves to the inevitable.

“Reyes, let’s go.”

Nodding, he stands with them, following closely behind. Several other colonists were following them out, some huddled together. Fear brought them closer. How strange they were so concerned about this, after opting to live out in the Terminus. Throwing back in the Alliance’s face everything they offered and jettisoning off to worlds unknown. And it had only a couple of decades since humanity had broken free of Sol. 

He kicks a rock. They should leave. Reyes repeats his suggestion.

“We can’t, my sweet. Not now.”

“This was only supposed to be a temporary settlement, mama. You kept telling me that.”

Silvia is tired, and it shows in the way she holds herself. A deal fell through? Sabotage? Targets on their backs? What else did he expect these days? “These people need all the help we can offer.”

“We can’t offer much when we don’t have anything to our name.”

As people begin to pass by, the three of them move away from the entrance, into the shadows of the trees. Darker and quieter, so they won’t be heard, let alone seen. “We have guns. A shipment came in a week ago—”

“What?”

“And we can distribute at a reasonable price. Secondhand seller. George knows how to rig vehicles with weapons. It’s not impossible—”

“Are you listening to yourself? You’re making it seem like we _can’t_ leave at all!”

“You can, Reyes. I— _we—_ can’t. Not now.”

Reyes is taller than Silvia, but not as tall as George. But in that moment, he felt considerably taller than the both of them, as if staring down at something he quite didn’t understand, wasn’t able to figure out. What was he missing? There was no attachment here, no connection. They had never formed a connection to a place, for as long as he could remember. Even the name ‘home’, attached to their little building, was still flimsy and easily transferrable. 

Maybe that said something about him, the way he had been raised. Taught. Experienced the universe from the back of a vehicle — built to withstand gunfire, weather, stars — travelling between systems and lives. 

Before Anhur, they were on Fehl Prime. Before that, Freedom’s Progress. Sanctum. New Canton. Lorek, even. A few months stuck on Illium, a bunker on Omega. Reyes doesn’t remember much before then, time becoming fuzzy and uncertain. Names escape him, but he had never made an effort to write them down. Earth was in there, definitely the start of his life, and yet only became a part of it out of necessity. 

Even then, he wasn’t sure, wasn’t completely a hundred percent sure, that Earth was the beginning. Maybe it was the Citadel. Maybe he had just simply always _been —_ Reyes, sometimes Vidal. A few other surnames that were logged into Silvia’s hard drives, careful track of just who they were pretending to be. 

The kind of thoughts that kept him up at night. 

“Please… we should leave. You know we should.” There was no saying that Silvia was even his mother by blood. But she had raised him, fed him, clothed him. Loved him, more than some people probably ever could. Reyes’ arms end up crossed again, hiding away how hard he was clenching his fists. “We can’t be here when Anhur falls.”

“You really believe Anhur will go under, Reyes?” George finally speaks up, voice rumbling, brow creased. His eyes flicker to Silvia, and if Reyes had a chance of getting her off world, it would be because of this man. 

“Corruption practically lives in our walls, George. Batarians use slaves proudly. How many other colonies in the past few years alone have gone under?” Each time humanity settled on a world, it was like a ticking time bomb. The Skyllian Blitz was just one part to the whole. “And it’s like the mayor said: the Alliance won’t help us. We don’t have a whole bunch of soldiers on shore leave, conveniently here to save the day.”

Elysium was so lucky. They were one of the few colonies who managed to fend of a pirate attack, and really, the odds had only been in their favour because of those few soldiers. Reyes wasn’t expecting someone to come save them, but he was expecting them to save themselves at the very least. 

“We’re going to be fine.” And _oh_ , she sounds so reassuring, so soothing. Hand on his arm, just like she used to do when he was a child, experiencing flight through an unexpected meteor shower.

“We’re going to _die_.”

Silvia’s face seems to dim at that statement, and George rubs the back of his neck. There was no dancing around the issue, the looming threat. No matter how much Silvia had — supplies that never made it to clients, gifts from others for good work — it would not save them. I should leave tonight, Reyes says to himself, as he watches Silvia sigh. I _need_ to leave. Save myself.

But his feet don’t pull him towards the garage, where his vehicle was. 

“An hour until the decision. Reyes, do what you think is best.”

Responsibility. A heavy feeling in his gut, weighing him down and anchoring him. Nothing on Anhur should have kept him there. Not even the woman he called mother. 

Reyes does not walk home with them. Takes a route that circles around the city centre, through the backstreets that were poorly lit. New Thebes was a human colony for the most part, but back here, Reyes found the rest of the universe. Easy to get lost without knowing the way. Reyes only had a necessity to come back here in the last year, organising a deal between two asari bigwigs about importing fuel in exchange for wood. For the better of the colony (and for Silvia to undermine them, for extorting other colonies over the same resources). 

But tonight, it was empty. Strange. Deeply unsettled, Reyes nearly sets foot deeper into the jungle, one foot hovering over the line and—

He can’t. He just can’t. Eyes watch him leave. Turning tail and running away. Just on the other side of that line was probably a way out. A definite way to disappear in the dark, never to return to Anhur again. Shuttles leave in the distance. Reyes knew he could have been on one of them right at that moment, safely leaving the planet. Getting out of trouble before it found him.

Feet meet the main street. Whatever energy that had left Anhur at the first announcement of the consideration into changing laws, suddenly reignited. With each step down the road, leading back towards the apartments he had spent the last five years in, he can hear the cries. Shouts of ‘no!’, violence threatening to spill out into the open. People wail, some are already leaving, bags under arms. 

_Run, Reyes. Leave now. Save yourself._

Hands on his hips, Reyes watches as in the distance, the first fire begins to burn.


End file.
